Flames erupt next to a press car following reported Israeli shelling in Lebanon's southern border village of Yaroun on Nov. 13, 2023, amid increasing cross-border tensions between Hezbollah and Israel as fighting continues in the south with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. (Credit: AFP)
Here’s what happened yesterday and what to expect today, Tuesday, Nov. 13
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Catch up on yesterday’s LIVE coverage of the Hamas-Israel war here.
Israeli bombardment killed two people in Ainata, medics told L’Orient Today, and caused major and partial damage to “more than 200 houses” in Aita al-Shaab, according to municipality chief Mohammed Srour. The Risala scout who hospitalized the two casualties confirmed with our correspondent in the south that they were killed in an Israeli strike.
Israeli missiles fell meters away from a group of journalists reporting in Yaroun, wounding Al Jazeera photographer Issam Mawasi. Various sources also reported bombardment around the southern Lebanese areas of Aita al-Shaab, Beit Lif, Houla, Jebbine, Markaba, Naqoura, Oum al-Tout, Rmaish, Shihine al-Boustan, Tayr Harfa, Wadi Qatmoun.
The state-run National News Agency said Ramieh was struck by white phosphorus shells.
Israel said it was retaliating against Hezbollah launching sites in cross-border attacks. Hezbollah announced five separate strikes on Israeli army positions in northern Israel. The party also reported the death of another of its fighters, bringing the number of party members killed since Oct. 7 to 74. An Israeli power company worker injured in a Hezbollah anti-tank missile strike Sunday died yesterday.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin he finds it unlikely that a second front will open with Lebanon after the latter expressed concern over Israel provoking tensions along the border, American news outlet Axios reported. Israel’s army “is preparing extensive action plans for the north,” Israeli army Chief of Staff Herzl Halevi told Israeli news source Haaretz.
Brazilian police arrested a third person suspected of having involvement allegedly Hezbollah-backed plans to attack Jewish and Israeli sites in Brazil after two others were apprehended last week. The suspect’s alleged affiliation with Hezbollah was already under investigation, sources told Reuters. Last Wednesday, the Brazilian Federal Police arrested two men in Sao Paulo on suspicion of preparing “terrorist attacks.” Later, the Israeli foreign intelligence service (Mossad) claimed that the suspects were affiliated with Hezbollah and were planning an attack against “Jewish” and “Israeli” targets. Brazilian authorities have not confirmed this version of events.
The power cut at al-Shifa Hospital has killed at least 34 patients, including at least seven babies, since Saturday. At least 11,240 people, including 4,630 children, have been killed in Gaza since the start of unrelenting Israeli bombardment on Oct. 7, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry. At least 101 people working with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) have been killed in Gaza, the “highest number of aid workers killed in the history of [the UN] in such a short time,” according to the organization’s general director Tatiana Valovaya. “Nowhere in Gaza is safe. Not the north, not the middle areas and not the south,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said yesterday in response to an Israeli navy strike on one of its facilities Sunday. The agency later announced its fuel stocks were depleted, preventing it from supplying hospitals, providing drinking water and removing sewage, Reuters reported.
In case you missed it, here’s our must-read story from yesterday: “Boycott of brands: What's the situation in Lebanon?”
Compiled by Abbas Mahfouz